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Tuesday, 19 March 2019

I had the enviable position recently to get a sneak preview of the last Boogie Down Under mixtape.Produced as always by The Shift, these are a series of audio showcases for some of Australia's biggest, best and unknown talent from the world of hip-hop.He picks the cream of the crop and this selection ("Volume 5: Australian Big Beat Hip Hop") is no exception. Featuring chunky beats and booming basslines these tracks really pack a punch and are deftly blended together in that true 'mixtape' sense.

There are some great tracks and some feckin' DOPE tracks in the collection and every song is new to these ears. This will be the last in the series so once it's gone, it's gone.It will be aired on the Hip Hop Show on Triple J (https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hip-hop-show/) and also available to purchase via cassette very soon.

Friday, 1 March 2019

A big thanks to everyone who listened in last night on Disco Scratch Radio to our ABU Podcast. And an even bigger thanks to those that joined in the chatroom. It is honestly so much better listening live as you can interact with other listeners and spark off stories and irrelevant talk while the show plays.

Wednesday, 27 February 2019

Woop, woop! Ring the alarm. It's the first post of 2019 and it's only February.

No one reads these posts anyway, do they?
Anyway, just in case you do then I'm letting you know that I've done a podcast and it's going out on Disco Scratch Radio on Thursday at 9pm.
There will be a link to listen in afterwards (I'll do a separate post, yes, TWO posts in ONE week!) in case you miss it. However, to hear it tomorrow then go here:http://discoscratch.co.uk/radio/

I'm quite proud of this one. There's a load of good music - a mix of new and old hip-hop, electro, funk and eclectic stuff, too. There's also a really good mix by Simon Cannon of various funk and rap 45s all blended together in a steaming pot of audio soup.

Lastly, why aren't you on Facebook? That's where ABU is these days, sadly. Yep. We sold our soul to the corporation which is why the blog is so sparse. I wish it was a different story but that's just the way it is.
Go on. Fuel the fire and add to the further demise of the ABU blog by going to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ageingbboysunite/

Friday, 21 December 2018

Here's the download to Thursday's podcast which was broadcast on Disco Scratch Radio on Thursday (20th).
Massive thanks to Waxer for airing it and for everyone that tuned in. Also huge daps to Dayle who replayed it just 12 hours later on his Boogie Down Under show!

Friday, 16 November 2018

I know that the viewing figures for the blog are not like they were in the heyday of this platform so this is a post mainly just to say thank you to anyone who still regularly visits.

Most people have simply jumped over to social media and use the ABU Facebook group now.
While this is all good, the Facebook group is not the sort of place where I envisioned ABU ending up when I began this blog in 2008. That's progress, I guess, and I'll take it how it comes.

However for you good people still holding off from the evils of social media here is a little digital treat for you.
For a number of years I've been after a particular book - Hip Hop: The Illustrated History of Break Dancing, Rap Music, and Graffiti written by Steven Hager. Unfortunately this has been long out of print and the original goes for a pretty decent price on Ebay.
A while ago I found that a digital copy was available online - sadly not for free - so I grabbed it as would be the closest that I'd ever get to owning the real thing.
This then is a little gift to you for sticking around. It's a ZIP file with digital copies in .MOBI and PDF formats. If you don't understand what these are then it's probably best you get back to your cosy chair and Werthers' Originals.

Monday, 12 November 2018

Hip-Hop's 'Mr Nice' returns in familiar fashion with another release from the UK's B-Line Recordings. His brand new wax is an EP, Beats, Bits And Bobs and is a refreshingly diverse bunch of tracks.

Beginning with side A's lead track, LABELS, this has the customary hallmarks of previous releases (as with many recent rap tunes by our generation - 'reminisce-rap', anyone?) with boom-bap production and tales of yesteryear rhymes on the top.Djar One provides the sweet beat for this with its really tight flow and light guitar lick. Specifik is on turntable duties.

REAP THE WHIRLWIND has a Raising Hell feel to it with it's sparse Billy Squier beat and rock guitar chugging powerfully over the proceedings. This track is produced by Phil Wilks who worked with D previously on his Other Side (2016) album supplying not just the beat but guitar, too.DJ Tones is on hand with some deft scratch patterns.

The RUN FAST remix is quite disappointing and it's sparseness sounds rather weak compared to the original version from 2014 12". Mr Fantastic's previous production matched the frenetic pace of the piece while Miracle's interpretation is more abstract and never quite captures the immediacy needed.

A complete change of pace as RADIOACTIVE BASS rounds off the EP.
This is a journey back into the days of electro funk which keeps all modern production hallmarks as sparse as you like and thus sounds more authentic of the period it is trying to capture. Simply a drum machine, a synth and a vocoder.
This has great potential for a wicked remix as there are some nice elements that could be fleshed out even more. Mr Wilks is on the boards again here and this cut demonstrates how deftly he flits through a variety of styles whilst coolly wearing his producer hat.

This is a great value for money purchase as it also includes instrumentals and acapella mixes on the flip-side - always a positive deciding factor for a thriftmaster such as I. In fact why would you not include instrumentals on a large 12" slab of wax? I remember there was a fad for chucking on (terrible) remixes in place of them back in the early 1990s on the UK releases. Luckily B-Line are sticklers for this tried and tested format and provide the full-fat treatment.

Once again John Dyer adds the finishing touches to the whole package with a dope cartoon-style illustration on this full-colour 12" sleeve which would look great in a record frame on the wall (buy two, folks!)

This collection ultimately displays what diverse musical influences Whirlwind D has in his record bag and proves he is nowhere near stopping anytime soon.

Sunday, 4 November 2018

This is a rarely-seen short film about 4 members of a b-boy crew. They're from the Bronx, NY and is at once impressive, inspiring and sad.Oliver, K-K and brothers Eli & Ken (the Electric Boogie Boys) are shown practicing their dance moves on the street, in a clothing store as well as in a skate rink competition and you can see how much love they have for it as well as each other. Their ambitions are quite high (a doctor and a priest) and the documentary shows a feeling of respect that a lot of other docs at the time would not have even wanted to touch on.
Being that this was produced by a European team (from the Netherlands) perhaps they were a little more forward-thinking and wanted to present the lads on a more human level than just some dancing muppets.

Saturday, 27 October 2018

It's finally here.Double Dee & Steinski's new release is a continuation of their infamous 'Lessons' series from 30 years ago and is (unsurprisingly) entitled, Lesson 4.
Believe me this is a sprawling, full-on assault on your ears with breaks and samples hitting you from every direction and some 'just right' spoken audio carefully laid on top.
Now enlisting the talents of master turntablist, ADA, the group is untouchable. Lesson 4 has really been worth the long wait. Check out the bang you get for your buck. That's 5 versions of the song. And if you join the mailing list at their official website then you may even get a special limited, one time only discount code to download this fine audio swag.

This is going to take some close inspection to decipher a lot of what the guys have done here but who cares, the fact that they are still providing for their fans is just enough. Hell, they could've just released themselves coughing over a beat and I still would've lapped it up.

Listening back, I'm sure I've heard (and probably have a download) of an early version of this song as that guitar refrain is very memorable as is the Richard Pryor dialogue at the start.

Disclaimer - Important!

The links to MP3 files provided in these posts are to be used for previewing only. AGEING B-BOYS UNITE ™ does not keep the files here, this Blog is merely a gateway, an Information Desk if you will, to point you in the right direction. Once downloaded, all files should be destroyed within 7 days.

The Ageing B-Boy™

REEPZ

Hater of Gangsta Rap. Lover of the b-boy stance.

well, Straight Outta Compton is alright. Some of CMW is cool as well.
Okay, amendment, Hater of MOST Gangsta Rap. But not those two, yeah?.

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